Vanessa Van Edwards - Building Trust from Your First Handshake

Dr. Richard Low is a huge fan of Vanessa Van Edwards’ work on the science of unlocking human behavior and we are delighted to have her on the show.  In this episode Vanessa shares specific strategies from her experiences teaching dentists how to build trust and help patients feel comfortable within the first moments of your interaction.  Another secret we uncovered is that you might accidentally be making people feel judged and distant by the way you smile and the best way to get sincere expressions for your profile pictures, websites and more.   Bio: Vanessa Van Edwards is Lead Investigator at Science of People — where she unlocks the formulas and patterns behind human behavior for hundreds of thousands of students in over 200 countries. She is the national bestselling author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding With People, available in 14 languages around the world. Her work has been featured on CNN, NPR, BBC, and Fast Company and dozens more.   Biggest Takeaways: Why micro expressions are so important and how you respond to them is valuable. Why you need to be authentic in your emotions. Importance of hand gestures.  How physical touch builds trust.  The first 20 seconds of meeting someone is the most important. Why you need to get on the same level as your patient during first impressions. How to slowly move into someones personal space.   Show Questions: What is your face saying to your patients? Are you paying close enough attention to your patients to spot the micro expressions? Do you have the courage to acknowledge the expressions? Are you giving the right signals during that first 20 seconds?   Resources: Vanessa Van Edward’s “Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People” Ted Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cef35Fk7YD8 Science of People Website - ScienceofPeople.com Vanessa Van Edward’s Instagram: vvanedwards and Facebook: fb.com/vvanedwards Book Vanessa at your next dental event: ScienceofPeople.com/Speaking/ Brent Brookbush’s Instagram for His Smirk Smile - instagram.com/brookbushinstitute Proxemics - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxemics   Quotes:  "And it's very, very clear that what people want is authentic emotions." - Vanessa Van Edwards "And most of all, we love, love, love getting any kind of physical touch because it produces oxytocin. You know, it's a very interesting chemical, but one of the things that it does is it builds trust. So the moment someone shakes hands with us, we get this burst of this chemical that makes us feel belonging, which is so powerful." - Vanessa Van Edwards "However, especially if you are in the first 20 seconds to a minute of interaction, that is the single most important time to have your hands visible." - Vanessa Van Edwards